All manner and variety of absorbent articles configured for the absorption of body fluids such as menses, urine and feces are, of course, well known. With respect to feminine protection devices, the art has offered two basic types; sanitary napkins have been developed for external wear about the pudendal region while tampons have been developed for internal wear within the vaginal cavity for interruption of menstrual flow therefrom. Such tampon devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,833, entitled "Tampon Applicator", issued to Weigner, et al. on Nov. 1, 1983, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,986, entitled "Tampon Assembly With Means For Sterile Insertion", issued to Jacobs on Nov. 8, 1983.
Hybrid devices which attempt to merge the structural features of the sanitary napkins and the tampons into a single device have also been proposed. Such hybrid devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,092,346, entitled "Catamenial Pad", issued to Arone on Sep. 7, 1937, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,372, entitled "Feminine Hygiene Protective Shield", issued to Denkinger on Sep. 16, 1975. Other less intrusive hybrid devices are known as labial or interlabial sanitary napkins and are characterized by having a portion which at least partially resides within the wearer's vestibule and a portion which at least partially resides external of the wearer's vestibule. Such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,662,527, entitled "Sanitary Pad", issued to Jacks on Dec. 15, 1953, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,062, entitled "Labial Sanitary Pad", issued to Lassen, et al. on Dec. 23, 1986.
Interlabial pads have the potential to provide even greater freedom from inconvenience because of their small size and reduced risk of leakage. Numerous attempts have been made in the past to produce an interlabial pad which would combine the best features of tampons and sanitary napkins while avoiding at least some of the disadvantages associated with each of these types of devices. Examples of such devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,917,049 issued to Delaney on Dec. 15, 1959, U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,235 issued to Harmon on Jan. 7, 1969, U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,392 issued to Johnson, et al. on Jun. 17, 1986, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,429 issued to Vukos, et al. on Jan. 16, 1996. A commercially available interlabial device is FRESH 'N FIT.RTM. PADETTE interlabial product which is marketed by Athena Medical Corp. of Portland, Oreg. and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,983,873 and 4,175,561 issued to Hirschman on Oct. 5, 1976 and Nov. 27, 1979, respectively.
However, many of these devices have not met with great commercial success. There are drawbacks associated with all of the above products. The devices described in these patents are believed to potentially be uncomfortable to wear due to frictional discomfort associated with rubbing of the product against the labial walls and sticking of the surfaces of the device to the labial walls. Furthermore, the frictional drag and sticking of the body-contacting surface of such devices against the labia can prevent these devices from being properly inserted, leading to discomfort.
The problem of drying of a female wearer's labial vestibule area has been discussed in the patent literature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,824 issued to Lassen, et al. on Jul. 11, 1989, is directed to a labial sanitary pad that has a "physiologically hydrous" cover (that is, a cover material supposedly designed to "maintain a moist interface between the tissues of the vestibule and the pad"). Types of cover materials specified in the Lassen, et al. patent include a spunlaced polyester fiber nonwoven and a rayon cover. The Lassen, et al. patent states that the covers can be provided with various "coatings" to maintain the physiologically hydrous feature, but no specific coatings appear to be disclosed.
European Patent Application EP 0 692 263 A2, "Method of reducing the coefficient of friction of absorbent products and wax coated products produced thereby", is directed to lubricated absorbent products having a coating of a small amount of high molecular weight solid waxy substance which has a softening point above body temperature. However, there are drawbacks associated with the use of high molecular weight materials for this purpose. High molecular weight materials will not be as soothing or lotion-like to the wearer's skin as lower molecular weight materials. In addition, high molecular weight materials will not be capable of transferring to the wearer's skin to provide skin care benefits. High molecular weight waxes can also become brittle and tend to flake or chip off an absorbent article due to their lack of flexibility if the absorbent article is of a type that is required to flex and bend. Further, if the softening point of such materials is higher than room temperature, application of such materials to an absorbent article will be more difficult, and will require that the material be heated in order to coat an absorbent article with such a material.
A vaginal moisture balanced tampon and process is disclosed in European Patent Application 0 685 215 A1. However, the interlabial device of the present invention is not intended to be worn inter-vaginally as a tampon.
Thus, a need exists for an interlabial device that is small in size and that can be easily inserted and that provides protection against incontinence, menstrual discharges, and discharges of bodily exudates throughout a great range of wearer motions. A need exists for an interlabial device which is absorbent, has a reduction in frictional discomfort associated with rubbing of the product against the labial walls and sticking of the surfaces of the device to the labial walls. A need also exists for an interlabial device that has a reduced tendency to dry the inside surface of the wearer's labia.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an interlabial device that is small in size and that can be easily inserted and that provides protection against incontinence, menstrual discharges, and discharges of bodily exudates throughout a great range of wearer motions.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an interlabial device which is absorbent, but has a reduction in frictional discomfort associated with rubbing of the product against the labial walls and sticking of the surfaces of the device to the labial walls.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an interlabial device that has a reduced tendency to dry the inside surface of the wearer's labia.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an interlabial lo device that can be inserted into the space between the wearer's labia with less friction so that it will more easily be fully inserted into the desired wearing position.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily apparent when considered in reference to the following description and when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.